some questions about larger angels

[rgentry123]

i am looking to add either a regal, blueface, or girdled angel to my current display but wanted to know everyones experience on mixing them with corals. now i already am aware that all of these COULD nip or eat my corals but i just wanted to get on idea as to which of thesewould have the lowest risk. i currently keep sps(mainly acros and montis), lps(duncan, favia, candy cane) and i have some zoas and a clam. im not as attached to the zoas. so ifthey get eaten no biggie. i am a little concerned about the others though. thanks for any input!

 

[jd474]

Regals will almost assuredly eat your zoanthids, but are generally considered safe with everything else (check the Regal Angel primer for others' experiences), I didn't have any luck with Blue Face angels, but the Girdled/Majestic usually does well also. I keep one with all types of corals and clams with no issues.

 

[WestTexasReefer]

I had a blueface in my mainly lps for almost 2 years and never touched anything. Then one day he decided he liked the taste of coral mainly brains and in about 3 days wiped out 4 of them before I could get him out of the tank. I'm not sure what changed.

 

[rgentry123]

thanks for the responses. the top of my list is the regal but i would only get one from LA and it can somtimes be a little tricky getting one from them. i guess it sounds like a majestic may be my next choice.

 

[davelin315]

I have 2 regals and neither has touched the few zoanthids I have in my tank (I was hoping they'd eat them) and neither touches any sps. They didn't touch acans and they also didn't touch a trachyphyllia when it was in my system. They also don't touch clams which are still in there. I have no duncans and no candy canes in my system, but I would assume it would be the same.

 

[Blownsvt]

i just added an emperor to my tank about 2 days ago. So far he has not touched my clam or any sps. He has bit at a brain and torch hopefully i will get him to stop doing that shortly.

 

[morris2]

My Majestic never bothered any of my sps.

 

[ccampbell57]

All large angels will eventually gather a taste for coral. My emperor, blueface, and my
old french angels all were fine in my reed when they were under 6". Once they got over the 6" mark they torched my coral. All of it.

The only coral that may be safe is SPS, but one bit from my 11" emperor and it would take off an entire piece of SPS.

The only "reef safe" angels are angels in other tanks.

If you have angels you need to understand that they are all graizers of live rock sand and anything else. Regardless of how much you feed them they will always eat more. They are the cows of the ocean.

If you have a big tank with very healthy coral then the occational pick from any fish will essentially trim your coral and keep it flourishing.